A New Chapter in Life
by RainbowsNSmiles5
Summary: Twins, Molly and Angela, have finally graduated from high school, free to get married and start a family. But are they even ready for it? And what about some unresolved issues regarding their parents? SEQUEL to "The Harmonica High Bet"!
1. Graduation

Chapter 1

Molly sat among her classmates in identical black gowns and square-topped hats that every traditional graduation would require a student to wear. She wasn't so much interested in the boring speeches about how the adults and teachers were proud of their accomplishments and how they are the future of Castanet Island. All she wanted to do was look at the watching audience, which was full of parents and family members of the students in her class. She scanned the seated audience and, knowing that she would only be disappointed if she did, looked for her parents. Of course, she frowned slightly when she didn't find them. She shouldn't have got her hopes up. She and her fraternal twin sister, Angela, hadn't spoken with or seen their parents since they moved to Castanet Island - not even a phone call. Though she didn't find her parents, she saw her older brother, Kasey, and his wife, Anissa, sitting together watching the ceremony. Kasey saw her and waved eccentrically while Anissa smiled, rubbing her bulging stomach affectionately. Molly waved back discreetly, and turned back around to where the stage was. The mayor was now handing over the podium spotlight to the class' valedictorian, Gill. This was the only speech that she actually wanted to listen to.

She remembered watching Gill sit at his desk in his room writing the speech while she kept herself busy by trying to read one of the thick books on his bookshelf.

Without taking his blue eyes away from his desk, Gill said, "What are you doing? You never read."

"I've read your diary," she simply said, squinting her eyes to read the small text.

Gill looked up and couldn't quite tell if she was lying or not, which secretly worried him. "Like when?" he challenged her bluff.

"Yesterday," she answered with a smirk. "I didn't know my laugh was 'cute'."

Gill turned back around when he felt his face heat up. "Shut up."

Molly grinned in mirth when recalling that memory, receiving a weird look from Kathy, who was sitting next to her.

After Gill gave his profoundly professional speech, and the students received their diplomas, it was time to do what Molly had been waiting for the entire time. As soon as Mayor Hamilton finished giving the last "Congratulations" to be said of the ceremony, Molly and Luke tied on being the first ones to throw their hat up in the air. Luke was so happy that he even pulled off his black gown and threw it in the air too, making everyone look twice when they saw a gown mixed in with a crowd of hats. When the ceremony had come to an end, everyone headed for the exit at once, which was unwise due to the congestion it caused in front of the church's double doors.

Yes, the high school's graduation ceremony was held in Harmonica Town's very own Celesta Church. Where else would they hold it? The church was the most formal place to hold a public celebration, and Harmonica Town's population was much too small to need a giant gymnasium or auditorium in the school.

After squeezing through the crowd and out of the church and into the courtyard, Molly searched for any of her friends or family. She quickly found her best friend, Chase. He was standing by himself, running his fingers through his peachy blond hair to get rid of the hat-hair. Molly laughed and made her way to him. "Need a hand, there?" she offered.

"No, thanks," he said, irate. "I hate hats. They only make your hair messy."

"Chase, your hair is always messy," she pointed out.

He gave a low grunt. "I still hate hats," he said stubbornly. "So, where's Gill? I thought he would have found you before I would."

"He said he and Mayor Hamilton were going to Town Hall right after the ceremony to talk about mayor stuff."

"He's finally going to be mayor?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. Hamilton did tell him that he'd begin considering it once he graduates."

"Chase!" they heard a high-pitched voice call. It was soon followed by Maya suddenly leaping on Chase's back and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Congratulations! Now that you're outta school, all that's left is for me to graduate next year, and then we can get married!"

Chase pried her off his back in annoyance. "Who ever said I'd marry _you_?"

She stomped her right foot and crossed her arms in a pout. "You're such a meanie!"

"Yeah, Chase, don't be a meanie," Molly instigated, receiving narrow-eyed glares from Chase. "C'mon, take this lovely lady and make her dinner. You know you want to!"

Chase growled as his face flushed to a rosy red color. "I don't understand why I even deal with people like you two," he snapped. He then turned around and stalked away, knowing it was the best thing to do to escape the conversation.

Maya stepped forward to go after him, but Molly stopped her with a simple shake of the head. Maya looked up at her with a tearful expression, which silently questioned her on why she shouldn't go after him. Molly gave her a small reassuring smile.

"Just him some time. He'll come around," Molly said knowingly.

Maya reluctantly listened and sighed. She knew Molly was right. She trusted her.

* * *

><p>Angela went to the carpentry with Luke after the ceremony. Dale had invited her to dinner to cerebrate their graduation. "Congrats, kiddos!" Dale said to Luke and Angela with a triumphant roar. "And to think that Luke didn't fail more than four classes this year!"<p>

"It would have been five if Angela didn't step in and teach you how to do math," Bo added with a laugh. "Right, Luke?"

Luke nervously chuckled. "Thanks, Ang…"

Angela smiled. "Dale, what you going to make tonight?"

Dale then faked an overly dramatic gasp and placed his hand over his forehead. "Oh, no. I was going to make vegetable curry, but I forgot to get some curry powder to make it," he said unconvincingly, throwing a wink Luke's way. Luke's gold eyes widened. "Looks like Bo and I will have to go get some more!" Dale said, already making his way hastily towards the door with Bo.

"W-Wait!" Luke called out in panic. "We have curry powder already!"

"Oh, but that's not nearly enough! We'll back soon," Bo said before shutting the door quickly behind them, leaving Luke and Angela at the carpentry to wait.

Luke buried his face and groaned quietly to himself. "Why did they have to leave?"

Angela stood in front of the kitchen counter, literately counting the number of curry powder containers they already had on it. "Yeah. You guys definitely have enough curry powder," she said innocently. She turned around and frowned seeing Luke scowl. She had noticed that he would easily get flustered lately, and it made her uneasy. Luke wasn't the type of person to just hold on to a problem; it just didn't fit his optimistic attitude. "Is something wrong, Luke? You're a little off lately," Angela observed.

Luke took his face from out of his hands to look at her. He didn't answer right away, for he was still trying to think of what to say. "Ang? Do you…like coming over here and eating dinner and stuff with us?" he asked, his cheeks burning the more he spoke.

Angela blinked, puzzled. _What does that have to do with anything?_ "Of course I do, Luke," she said, her tone giving away her slight confusion despite the confident smile she put on to cover it up. "I always feel at home when I'm here."

Luke couldn't help but crack a grin when she said that. "At home… So, you have no problem seeing this place as your home?"

Angela raised her brows, still not sure what any of this had to do with his nervousness, but she went along with it when she saw that his spirits were gradually lifting the more they talked about it. "Well, I see Dale as father and Bo as a little brother, so I already see this place as a kind of home. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, w-well…" Luke began hesitantly, avoiding eye contact with her by staring at his hands. "I was…just wondering…"

Angela's eyebrows shot up even higher in disbelief. "Just wondering?"

Luke continued to watch his hands as he wrung them."Yeah…"

Angela sighed. "If you say so, I guess…"

* * *

><p><strong>** So, that was an introduction to this sequel! I gave this story a kinda crappy summary, but, hey, it works.<br>I'm predicting that this will be a somewhat short story, but hopefully not too short. I liked that "The Harmonica Junior High School Bet" title idea that someone suggested, by the way. I'd really love to make this a trilogy and use it for the next generation. Speaking of which, thank you to those that left ideas, titles, etc. for me to use! **

**Anyways, I hope you like it so far, and let me know what you're thinking so far. The next chapter will be up soon! :) ****


	2. Unexpected Visits Part 1

Chapter 2

Owen rolled his eyes in annoyance with Luke's uncharacteristic nervousness. Bo and Dale sat at the carpentry's kitchen table with Luke, giving him looks that silently let him know that they agreed with Owen.

"Dude, just do it," Owen told Luke.

"I'm going to do it. I'm just…taking my time," Luke replied.

"You were so set on doing it after the graduation, and you flaked out!" Dale said.

"We even left you two alone so that you could ask her in private," Bo added.

Luke groaned and twirled a blue feather in his hand.

He had worked so hard to get one. Mira, the accessory shop's owner, came by the carpentry four weeks before graduation to let them know of a rare, blue bird she recently saw flying towards the mountaintop everyday late in the evening. Her story didn't much interest Luke until she mentioned that someone could propose to whomever they love with one of the bird's feathers. That's when the idea of getting married started filling his head to the point where he couldn't look at Angela without imagining her with a wedding dress on her. He couldn't think of why marrying her wouldn't be good idea; he loved her more than anything, even more than his tree-chopping axe. So, he decided to do it. He went up what seemed like thousands of floors in the mines until he reached the mountaintop. Then, as soon as saw the small, blue bird resting on a rock, it abruptly sensed him there and flew away, leaving behind a precious feather. He was proud when he got a hold of it and wanted to propose to Angela right away. But when he started to, the feather concealed inside his pocket, he couldn't find the right words to say. He would stutter and pause from the nerve-wrecking pressure. He knew he wanted to marry her, but there would always be the lingering thought that would doubt she wanted the same too. After weeks of struggling, he decided that he would do it the night she came for dinner after the graduation ceremony. But, like other times, he choked.

"I got nervous, thinking she'd say no," Luke said.

"She's not going to say no," Owen said. "You're just being a baby."

Luke gave him a look. "I'm not a baby," he said.

Owen then smirked when he saw that Luke was provoked, and he saw this a good way to motivate him. "Why are you so afraid to do it, huh? I bet it'll be months before you work up the courage to even ask her if she likes white dresses!"

"Fine," Luke said through his teeth. "I'll ask her tomorrow." He then put the feather into his pocket as a way to say that he didn't want to talk about marriage with them anymore.

"Oh, no, you're not!" Dale intervened, pulling Luke out of his seat and pushing him towards the front door. "That's what you said yesterday!" Bo assisted by opening the door for him, letting Dale push him outside in amusement.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Luke asked, trying to get back inside, but Owen jumped in and kept moving in the same was Luke was like a mirror to block the way in.

"You're not coming back in until you do it. You can't keep that girl waiting forever," Dale said.

"But it's getting late. It'll be dark by the time I even get there!" Luke countered in hopes that they will give in.

"We have lanterns on the porch."

And with that, the door closed in Luke's face. He tried going back in, but he found that they locked him out to make sure that he knew they were being serious. "You guys suck!" he yelled so that they could hear from inside. He sighed and began to look for the supposed lanterns and lit one when he found a few. With his free hand, he pulled out the blue feather from his pocket and looked at it, thinking of Angela. He let out another sigh and said to himself, "Well, I guess it's now or never…"

* * *

><p>On the other side of the farm property, where a grassy, open space had occupied a year before, laid Kasey's own house. With the help of the savings his sisters accumulated for what was originally supposed to go towards college in the city, he paid the carpentry to build him a house from the ground up. It didn't take very long after deciding to do it that it was finished quickly and efficiently. He didn't regret his decision to not return to college to instead stay on Castanet Island to work on the farm with his sisters; he loved his life on the island. And watching Luke, Bo, and Dale build his house with such enthusiasm over the rarity of building an entire house made Kasey even more proud to have decided to permanently reside on the farm. Staying made him happier than he would have expected from graduating from college.<p>

He married Anissa, the soft-spoken girl he found himself unintentionally developing a relationship with since he arrived on the island. He didn't mean to like her as more than a friend, but the more her spent time with her, the most he grew to really cherish her company. It wasn't long after he built his house that he gathered his feelings and confessed them to her. It took a lot of courage from him, as he was afraid she might not feel the same and ruin the nice, relaxed friendship they had. But it was worth it when she sheepishly revealed that she had some feelings for him as well. From then, they began to date, going to romantic festivals, making a point to see each other everyday despite how busy their schedule was that day. They even enjoyed plowing the fields and harvesting crops as long as they were doing it together. After two seasons, Kasey asked her to marry him. The last two seasons of marriage and living with Anissa were better than what he imagined, and it was even better when they eventually discovered that they were going to have a baby. It was shocking, of course, at first, but once the idea of it completely sunk in, he became excited.

Kasey was preparing green tea in his kitchen, which was conjoined with the living room, while Angela and Molly joined Anissa on the couch, looking at her swelled stomach with amazement at how round it was. She smiled and assured them that it was okay for them to put their hand over it to feel. Kasey brought a cup of tea to Anissa and joined them.

"It's kicking!" Molly exclaimed, still feeling.

"He recognizes your voices," Anissa said.

Angela glanced away from the baby bump to look at her. "You know it's a boy?"

"Dr. Jin thinks it is," Kasey said. "It's pretty cool 'cause we were both hoping for one."

"You know, I can't really imagine you with those I'm-pregnant-hear-me-roar kind of mood swings," Molly told Anissa. Angela was thinking the same thing; Anissa wasn't the kind of person to break a kind, serene attitude.

"Oh," Anissa said with a small laugh, "I haven't had many of those."

"Not true," Kasey said. "One moment she's happy and fine, the next she's scary and craves apples and yams."

Anissa doesn't deny it, but only shrugs. "I wouldn't have been scary if I had some apples and yams."

"You of all people know they're out of season." He then turns to Molly, who was watching them in mirth. "If she can get moody, I'd hate to see you pregnant with raging hormones."

The thought of being pregnant, and the commitment that came with having children, made Molly shudder. She imagined having some sort of parasite that would feed off of her from her stomach and reap her of her freedom to do whatever she wanted. The commitment it required seemed too much for her, and she didn't want to be tied down. But it wasn't like she didn't like children. In fact, she loved watching them play, especially Anissa's little brother, Taylor, and Owen's little, red-faced cousin, Chloe, when she'd make a trip to Marimba Farm to buy seeds or briefly visit Chase at his house. But having a child herself somewhat scared her, not just for her sake, but also for the child's. Molly knew nothing about taking care of kids. She had never been required to be around them before. She could imagine anyone else with one but herself.

"Let's talk about something else," Molly said.

"You both looked nice in your caps and gowns," Anissa said.

Molly recalled the gradation, listening to Gill's speech, noting in her head how hot the gown really was when you actually wear it, scanning the audience to look for Kasey and her parents. She frowned slightly when she remembered that she didn't find them there. "So, uh…" She hesitated, but wanted to point it out to find out if the others noticed too and not just her. "I, um, noticed that Mom and Dad didn't come to watch," she said.

It's quiet for a moment, and you can just feel the solemnity in the air at that moment. Then, Angela speaks. "I didn't know. I wasn't really expecting them to."

Molly sees that nobody else is prepared to make another comment, so she fakes a light laugh in attempt to rid the air of the tension that the mention of her parent caused. "Yeah, me neither. I just thought they would have at least considered it since the school sent them an invitation and all." Molly felt that her laugh failed to relieve the tension. She felt that it sounded more strained than the lightheartedness she was going for. But luckily for her, there was a knocking at the front door that was the perfect thing to stray the focus away from the stillness in the air. "Who is that?" she said, to bring more attention to the door.

Kasey shrugged. "We weren't expecting anyone."

Angela was already going to the door. "I'll get it," she said. She turned the doorknob and raised an eyebrow at whom it was. "Oh, hello, Gill."

Molly looked up, slightly puzzled. She and Gill didn't plan to do anything that night. She joined Angela by the door. "Hey," she said to him, "I didn't know you were going to come by."

"I thought we could go for a walk…and talk," he said tentatively. He didn't have an amused smirk or even the bored expression that can be found on him. Instead, it was serious, more so than normal.

"Okay," Molly replied, though she was still puzzled. She joined Gill on the other side of the threshold, and after taking only a few steps, she saw Luke from the corner of her eye. "Luke!" she called, waving her wand in the air to get his attention. He looked up from his boots and waved back, though not as confident. When Molly asked him if he came to see Angela, he nodded, and Molly offered to run inside real quick to get her before she left with Gill for their walk.

When Angela saw him, she noticed the same shaky expression he had on this face the day before. "I wasn't expecting you to be coming by tonight," she said. "Is everything okay?"

He kept his hands in his back pockets, feeling the feather in one of them. "Um, well, the thing is… Uh… Well, you see, I was thinking the other day how cool it'd be if someday we might…get married and live together and have babies and junk," he said, saying the last part of his sentence a little too quickly

Angela blushes at the thought. "Yeah, I can see that happening someday..." she said shyly.

Hearing Angela say this excited Luke, and almost immediately, his shaky expression was gone and replaced with a grin. "Cool, 'cause I got you this!" He then showed her the blue feather he had been keeping in his back pocket.

Angela gasped and thought that her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. "Are…are you asking me to marry you?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling beads of sweat that he didn't know were there. "Yeah. I was kinda nervous about what you'd say, so I – "

Angela cuts him off as she leaps onto him, her arms ending up around his neck. "Why would you be nervous? Of course I'd say yes!"

Luke was genuinely surprised, but he was happy nevertheless. "Oh, wait! I have to propose to you properly, like in the movies!" He then put her down and got down on one knee, exactly how the men in the cheesy, romantic movies that he knew Angela couldn't help liking would do. "My dear, sweet, beautiful, Angela," he said in the most dramatic, sappy way possible. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask!" she said mockingly and laughed at the silliness.

Luke laughed too. And when he got up from his knee, he leaned down to press his lips onto hers, making Angela feel like the Harvest Goddess had blessed her with something so great that she couldn't imagine not being able to live without it ever again.


	3. Unexpected Visits Part 2

Chapter 3

Gill and Molly kept walking, both of them not saying a word to each other. She didn't like the look on his face as he continued to watch where his feet stepped. He looked like he was deep in thought, and Molly could only assume that he was calculating something complex in his head or carefully arranging an important speech in his head, making sure that his diction was to be perfect.

Molly couldn't help wondering what was wrong. The thought that he was trying to break up with her suddenly came up. She always imagined if one of them were to break up, it would be where one of them would have to struggle to find the right words to break it to the other. Would he really break up with her? Would he really leave her? But why? Maybe he didn't like her anymore. Maybe he couldn't be with a girl that always playfully teased him or read his diary or distracted him from his work. Molly bit her lip and sternly told herself to not worry about something that probably wasn't even going to happen. I'm just overreacting…

She decided to think of something else – anything else – and her parents came to mind. They didn't come to their graduation. She thought they, after not attempting to contact them in over a year, would want to at least want to make up for it by coming. It wasn't like they didn't know about it. They should have received their invitation from the school. Maybe it was lost in the mail? Molly knew she shouldn't think about it. She would only try to think of excuses for her parents, a habit she had, which she had been trying to avoid doing in the past year to get over the fact that her parents abandoned her and Angela, dumped them on an island and not bother to visit or call them. She was getting better at accepting that, but she still wanted to believe that they still, in the slightest, loved them a little.

Gill, after deciding to avert his blue eyes away from his feet, glanced down at Molly's face. "Is something wrong?" he asked, seeing the sadness in her eyes.

She looks up, surprised that he finally said something. She was relieved that he wasn't being so quiet anymore, and she smiled. "Oh, no. I was just thinking," she replied. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Sure, but first I want to know what's bothering you."

She frowned. "I was just thinking about how my parents weren't at the graduation. I mean, I thought they would at least come see us since it's such an important day…"

Gill sighed. "Well, you know where I stand when it comes to your parents."

Molly nodded. She knew that Gill would rather her not wasting her time on things were lost causes. After watching her have a mental breakdown when he accused her parents of abandoning her and Angela last year, the night she went to the bar by herself and drank herself drunk with blueberry cocktails, he felt nothing but disgust for her parents. He had never saw Molly look so tortured. He was certain that if she just accepted that her parents were gone from their lives and moved on, she would be much happier. He wanted her to be happy. He didn't want to see her hoping for something that wouldn't come and only get hurt in the end.

"Just don't think too much about it," he said.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just forget about it," Molly said, her frown erased from her lips now. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and gazed up at the sky as he talked. "Um, it's actually about what my father wanted to talk to me about after the graduation ceremony."

Molly raised her eyebrows. She became somewhat excited for him since she predicted that Mayor Hamilton was going to hand over the title of mayor to him after graduation. "Well, what did he say?"

He stopped walking, but he still kept his eyes on the night sky. "My father says that it would be better if I settled down before I become mayor."

That wasn't what she was expecting. She was expecting something more on the lines of "Hey, good news! I'm the official mayor of Harmonica Town now!" instead of this. "By settling down…" She couldn't finish the rest.

Gill knew what she was going to say, and he nodded. "Yes, he means marriage. But my father has made it clear that he doesn't want us to rush anything because of this. He's perfect fine with waiting until we're ready."

Molly waited a moment to absorb the conversation. In honesty, the subject made her uncomfortable. Not nearly as much as the thought of being pregnant with a parasite, but it still made her feel nervous. What was going to come out of all of this? Was he expecting her to be completely fine with everything and marry him?

"H-How does all of this make you feel?" she asked, so quiet that Gill almost had trouble hearing it.

Gill averted his eyes from the sky to look at her. He made sure that she was looking him straight in the eyes by tilting her chin up. "I love you more than anything…but for once I have to agree with my father. I don't to rush things and make you feel like you have to marry me when you don't want to."

Molly did say anything. She was too preoccupied trying to imagine herself getting married in a white dress with people throwing rice at her and her throwing a bouquet of flowers to crowd of single girls. It was hard to picture her in that kind of scenario. She never gave much thought about getting married. Whenever she did, she associated it with being tied down and having kids, and she knew how she felt about having kids. But this was Gill she had to think about. This was someone she knew would probably be the person to convince her to get married and, with more convincing, have kids.

Gill swayed uncomfortably from where he stood while he waited for an answer from her. He could tell she was thinking, which only made him more apprehensive. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Gill, when I think of marriage, I think of it like my life will just come to a dead halt when it happens. Maybe that's not what it's actually like in real life, but that's just what it sounds like to me right now. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I love you, Gill, and you're the only person I can consider myself getting married to, but I don't think I'm ready for that sort of thing just yet. I think I need more time to get used to the idea before we do anything…"

He smiled. "At least you're being honest."

Molly smiled too, glad she didn't only end up hurting his feelings by not wanting to get married. "Maybe then the idea won't scare me so much."

"I'm glad you're being honest about this. I was afraid you would feel pressured or something." He paused. "You don't think I just want to marry you because I'll become mayor, do you?"

Molly shook her head. "Nah, you're not that heartless."

He smirked. "Are you suggesting that I'm a little heartless, then?"

She shrugged her shoulders with a playful expression. "Maybe. Maybe not."

He laughed.

After walking around a little longer, Gill walked her back and kissed her goodnight before leaving. She could hear faint, muffled of what sounded like shrilled laughs from inside Kasey's house. She opened the door slowly and cautiously, not knowing what to expect.

"Congratulations!" Anissa said, hugging Angela.

Molly looked to see Kasey sulking from where he sat on the couch. "Yeah, congrats." Kasey caught notice of Molly standing at the door confusedly. "Oh hey, Molly. Wanna here something that's just super?"

Molly was clueless. What kind of news could possibly make Anissa congratulate Angela and Kasey sulk?

Molly then gasped and pointed her finger at Angela in accusation. "DID LUKE KNOCK YOU UP?"

Everyone stopped. Angela's face violently flushed a deep red. "W-What?"

Kasey could be heard in the background laughing hysterically. He laughed so hard that he literally almost fell out of his chair. Anissa, on the other hand, was laughing too but had the common courtesy of trying to hide it by covering her mouth with her hand.

And just when you thought Angela's blush couldn't be anymore crimson than it already was, it did. "Molly, I'm not pregnant! I'm getting married!"

Molly placed her hand on her chest and exhaled. "Oh, thank Goddess. I thought I was gonna have to beat the crap outta him," she said.

"That wouldn't be fair… Even if I was pregnant, it would've been as much as my fault as Luke's."

"Yeah, but it's much easier to blame Luke than you."

"I agree," Kasey said, his laughing fit coming close to an end.

That night, when everyone was starting to wrap up the night, Molly and Angela went to their own house and got ready for bed. Although they still had the spare bedroom from after Kasey moved out into his own home, the twins still slept in the same room. They considered separating, but once they had finished moving all of Molly's furniture into the spare, they felt as if they were never going to see each other again. They quickly changed their minds and moved the furniture back. They decided to instead move the couch, TV, and bookshelves into the spare so that their living room wouldn't have to be five feet from their kitchen and dining room.

They showered, brushed their teeth, and dressed into comfortable pajamas. They got comfortable in their twins beds – Molly's against the left wall, and Angela's against the right – and laid there for a while. They didn't try go to sleep, only stared at the ceiling above them.

"Molly?" Angela called quietly.

Molly turned over on her side to face her. "Mmm?"

Angela turned on her side too. "I was just thinking… You didn't act very surprised when I told you me and Luke are getting married."

Molly shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I knew it would happen eventually. Are you happy?"

Angela nodded, smiling. "Yes."

"Do you love him?"

Her smile grew. "Yes."

"That's good."

"What about you?" Angela asked. "How are you and Gill?"

Molly laughed under her breath, though there was no humor behind it whatsoever. "Funny you should mention that…" Molly explained the talk she had with Gill during their walk as Angela listened, occasionally nodding her head to what Molly was saying.

"I see," Angela came up with once Molly was finished. "Do you think you'll ever get used to the idea?"

"I don't know. Hopefully soon. I mean, I'd hate to make Gill wait on me too long. What if he just gets sick of it? What if he gets so tired of waiting on me that he thinks I don't actually love him and move on to someone else?"

"No, Molly. I don't think Gill would ever do something like that to you. Gill isn't that kind of person."

"I know, but I can't help but have that in the back of my mind. I just… I don't want him to ever abandon me like that…"

Angela didn't reply. She could only try figure out what about someone she loved abandoning her sounded familiar.


	4. Wedding Planning

**** Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, especially at the end. I just really wanted to finally get this up after not updating in a long time. But I still hope you like it and don't think it's utter crap! :) **  
><strong>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

"No, no, no! That looks all wrong!" Luna fussed as she examined the puffy white dress Molly picked out for Angela.

"Nobody said I was some wedding dress expert," Molly grumbled.

"Maybe…something a little lighter?" Candace said.

Shelley nodded at her granddaughter's suggestion. "Yes, something more suited to her. Something more…delicate."

It had been a week since Luke asked Angela to marry him, and the news had been buzzing around the island like wildfire. After talking with the mayor about their engagement, he was thrilled and proposed for the wedding to be set on the last day of summer, which gave them roughly four weeks to plan everything.

The three women at Sonata Tailoring were especially excited for the upcoming wedding. After Kasey and Anissa's wedding, they foresaw that there were going to be plenty more weddings to come in the next few years, so they put much effort into making and designing new wedding dresses and formal wear in preparation. They were quite proud of the selection they came up with.

Because Angela knew she was clueless about what to do to prepare for a wedding, she asked Anissa to show her the ropes and help her out, which she was happy to do. Angela also asked Molly to tag along as a second opinion.

In all honesty, Molly couldn't care less about what kind of dress Angela wore – she was more interested in the cake sampling to come later. But she hung in there and tried her best to determine which dress would suit Angela the most.

Looking through the selection of dresses, Molly caught eye of a dress that looked to be of satin. It was long with spaghetti straps and a simple beaded design in the midsection. It wasn't too flashy, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

"What do you think of this one, Ang?" Molly asked her sister, pointing out the dress.

Angela's eyes glimmered. "C-Can I try on that one?"

"Nice eye!" Luna said, taking the dress out of its clear protective bag. "Candace did this one all on her own."

"You did?" Angela said to the blue haired girl. "It looks amazing."

Candace blushed lightly and smiled. "Thank you…"

The girls helped Angela out of the puffy wedding dress and into the one Molly found. Everyone nodded their heads approvingly at how well the dress fit her. Angela looked at herself in the mirror and smiled brightly at her reflection.

"It looks great on you!" Anissa said.

"How about you give it a twirl?" Luna proposed.

Angela giggled and began twirling around in a circle, feeling as if she were a princess.

Molly watched her sister's childlike twirling. She noted how happy she looked and how excited she was to prepare for this wedding. Her happiness was rubbing off on her and caused her to smile and laugh. "You like it?"

"Of course I do!"

Next on the agenda for the day was to meet Luke at Ocarina Inn to sample cakes. Yolanda, Colleen, and Chase were in charge of baking the cakes while Maya was assigned the duty of test tasting the cakes. In a way, it was to make sure Maya would be distracted and not think about going into the kitchen and try to bake her own cake for the couple to try. But on the other hand, they wanted Maya to taste their creations – she may be terrible in the kitchen, but nobody could deny that she knew what tasted great.

Luke was at Ocarina Inn before Angela and Molly arrived. He wasn't interested in finding a suit to wear or what color napkins would go best with Angela's flower bouquet. But cake sampling was definitely something he was interested. Who wouldn't want to sample free cake?

Molly and Anissa happily ate at a piece of Colleen's marble cake while Luke was trying to convince Angela that she would love having a spinach wedding cake. Chase had just finished smoothing the icing on his cake and sliced a piece to have Maya taste.

"Ooooh! What kind is it?" she asked, not waiting for him to answer as she eagerly took a bite.

"Dark chocolate. Same as the last two," Chase said, watching her chew his creation.

Maya took a moment to taste the food before swallowing and made a sour face. "Dry…"

"Damn…" Chase sighed and took his cake back to the kitchen without another word.

Molly's eyebrows rose. "Wow, Chase made a bad cake? Must be a sign of the apocalypse."

Maya giggled. "He's been pretty off today for some reason. That's the third cake in a row that's been dry!"

"That must be so frustrating," Anissa said sympathetically.

"He did look pretty frustrated earlier," Angela added.

"Yeah," Maya said, "I'm kinda surprised he hasn't gotten mad at me yet."

"Why would he be mad at you?" Anissa asked.

"Because I keep telling him his cakes are dry."

Angela shook her head. "I don't think he would get mad at you for that. If anything, I'm sure he's happy that you're just being honest."

"I guess so…"

"Besides," Molly said, nodding her head confidently, "Chase is just happy that you eat his food because he's madly in love with you."

Maya blushed deeply. "Uh, w-well…" she stuttered, not knowing quite what she should say to something as blunt as what Molly said. "I… Did Chase tell you that?"

Molly crossed her arms. "No, but he doesn't have to. I can read that guy like a book! He's in love with you. Trust me. He just doesn't want to admit it!"

Luke laughed. "Chase would murder you if he heard you say that!"

Molly smirked. "Hmph, I'm sure I can take him."

Then, as if on cue, Chase came out from the back kitchen with another piece of cake. Everyone suddenly got quiet, hoping that he wasn't listening in on their conversation. He to not have any knowledge of it, but the silence in the room and the constant stares he was getting from everyone made him suspicious.

He placed the cake in front of Maya. "Here. Master Yolanda just made this one. It's raspberry cream."

Maya picked up her fork and tried a piece and gave a slight nod that told him that she liked it, which was no surprise to anyone – anything Yolanda made was pure gold.

Chase glanced at everyone else again and furrowed his brows. "Why are you guys so quiet?"

"Well – " Molly began, fully willing to tell him what they were talking about. But Angela knew what Molly was going to do and interrupted her.

"We were playing the quiet game!" she said lamely. She mentally slapped herself for picking such a lame cover up. "Looks like me and Molly are out!" Angela narrowed her eyes at Molly. "Right, Molly?"

Molly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I'll win next time," she said, sarcasm dripping off each word.

Chase wasn't convinced in the least bit about them playing something as stupid as the quiet game, but wasn't willing to keep Yolanda waiting to find out. He still had work to do in the kitchen after all with his master. So, he reluctantly left everyone to go back and help Yolanda and Colleen.

Angela made sure that Chase was long gone before exhaling. "That's a dangerous subject to talk about with him so close by…"

Maya picked up her fork and began eating the rest of her raspberry cream cake. "Let's just talk about something else. Okay, Molly?"

Molly pouted. "Fine."

"Luke, Angela," Anissa said, quickly thinking of a different subject. "Have you two made a list of all the people you're going to invite to the wedding?"

"The entire island!" Luke announced proudly.

"That's a big wedding," she laughed. "Angela, you're from the mainland. Is there anyone you want to invite from there?"

"Well, I was thinking about sending an invitation to Nana and Kevin," Angela said, though it was directed more towards Molly. "Mom and Dad too, I suppose."

"Really?" Molly said, surprised that Angela was even going to bother inviting their parents.

"Yeah, I mean…I don't expect them to actually show up, but I don't have a problem with inviting them and giving them a chance to come."

Molly smiled.

"Who's Kevin?" Luke asked. "You've never talked about him before. Is he your cousin?"

"Oh, no," Angela said. "Kevin is Nana's grandson. They used to live next door to us, so we would always play with Kevin when we were little."

"You mean she isn't your grandma?" he confusedly asked.

Molly shook her head. "Nana is _like_ a grandma to us."

"Molly, how are we supposed to send an invitation to Kevin though?" Angela inquired. "We don't even know where he lives anymore since he went away to go to that boarding school. Do you think he went back home after graduating?"

"Nana should know where he is. I'll just send her an extra invitation and ask her to send it to him. Problem solved."

"Do you need help sending invitations?" Anissa asked. "I'd be happy to help."

Molly waved her off. "Nah, I'll probably end up asking Gill to help me do it. He's good with that kind of stuff."

Leaving Ocarina Inn, the group heard a horn blare loudly. They looked around them until their eyes looked down onto the docks. It was Pascal testing the horn on his ship.

Luke groaned and rubbed his ears. "Hey, Pascal!" Luke called out to the white haired man. "I don't think it's loud enough!"

They saw Pascal laugh and place his pipe in his mouth before wondering off onto his ship.

"He must be getting ready to leave," Molly murmured.

Later that day, as Gill's work at the Town Hall was coming to an end, Molly visited him and asked for his help in making the wedding invitations. Gill knew that if they went to his house to make the invitations, his father would just make an effort to annoy him – not to mention embarrass him. So, he suggested that they stay at Town Hall.

They worked diligently, making sure they had an invitation for every single person on the island. Then, it came to the list of people off of the island.

Gill raised his eyebrows upon reading the list of four people. "She wants to invite your parents?"

Molly smiled. "Yeah, it surprised me too." Then, her eyes began to look downcast, contradicting her smile. "But apart of me feels that sending an invitation would just be a waste of time. I mean, how do we know that they'll even get it?"

Gill sighed. "Sadly, you won't be able to know for sure. Well, unless you just hand-deliver them yourself."

"_Hand-deliver them…_" Molly thought. She knew Gill wasn't serious about his remark, but when she thought about it, giving her parents the invitations in person would solve her problems. She remembered not seeing them at graduation. This way she would be certain that they get the invitation and know once and for all if their absence was the result of poor mail delivery or just their cold ignorance.

It seemed like an absolutely foolproof way to make sure her parents know about the wedding. Molly knew that Angela would be happy if their parents actually showed up, especially since she wasn't expecting them to show up at all.

"Molly?" Gill said, waving his hand in front of her face.

Molly snapped out of her train of thought. "Huh? What?"

"You've been staring off into space for a while now…"

She looked at him. She wanted to tell him what she was really thinking about. _He would just say no…_

"Are all of the invitations done?" Molly asked, her voice low and monotone.

Gill looked at her suspiciously. "Uh, yeah, all of them except for the four to the mainland. Molly, is something bothering you again?"

She shook her head and said, "I've gotta go." She closed her eyes and leaned in to plant a long, soft kiss on his lips. The warm feeling she got from kissing him never got old. When she released him, she opened her eyes to Gill's blue ones. "I love you, Gill."

He gazed back into her eyes and could see something that he wasn't quite sure of. _Something's not right…_ "I love you too, but are you sure you're okay? You've been acting strange lately…"

She smiled and shook her head again. "I'm perfectly fine, Gilly. I have to go now, okay?"

She then got up and left Town Hall, leaving Gill to himself.

He still didn't feel right about it. Was he just being paranoid? He couldn't tell. He just knew something about how she kissed him, the faraway look in her brown eyes, was unsettling, as if she was trying to tell him goodbye.

Molly walked straight to the docks after leaving Town Hall. She saw Pascal, who was watching the sea waves crash against the pier, puffing on his pipe. He sensed someone tentatively inching closer from behind him, so he turned around and saw Molly.

"What can I do for yeh this late at night, miss?" he asked.

"Is there room for one more on that boat?"

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><p><strong>** So, there you go! I have sooo many ideas for this story but no time to actually sit down and write them. -_-<br>Thank goodness summer is almost here! You guys have no idea how excited I am for summer break. This has definitely been the busiest school year of my life and I'm so glad it's ending soon. Let's just hope next year isn't worse! xD **  
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	5. She's Gone

**** Remember me? Sorry for vanishing off the face of the earth! This chapter has actually been completed for two months...just forgot I didn't post it. Sorry, guys! Dx **  
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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

It was the next morning; the sun wouldn't be rising for another few hours. Molly hurried to the docks, hoping that nobody in Harmonica Town would wake up early and see her. She carried only one bag with three days worth of clothes, her flute, a few pieces of sheet music to play, and money to be spent on food and a bus ticket. She felt that she didn't need to bring too much with her. After all, it would only take her a full day to get there if she didn't stop moving for too long, and whatever else she needed would waiting for her at her parent's house, along with other processions she left there when moving to Castanet Island.

She made it to the docks, where Pascal was waiting, huffing on his famous pipe.

"I'm here. Thank you again for doing this for me," Molly said to Pascal.

Pascal smiled and took his pipe out of his mouth to talk. "It's no problem. Are you all set? Did you say your goodbyes to everyone already?"

Molly remembered the note she left for Angela. "Yes, I did. Is it ready to run yet?" she asked, looking up at the white ship.

"It's ready to set sail as soon once we get on!"

Wanting to start moving as soon as possible, Molly boarded the ship with Pascal following close behind. Pascal disappeared to control the ship while Molly stood at the deck to look out at Harmonica Town. In no time, the ship had started moving, and Molly watched as the island gradually became a black speck far out into the ocean.

* * *

><p>Angela slowly opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. She sleepily looked over at her sister's half of the room, half expecting to find Molly either drooling on her pillow or sleeping on the floor from falling out of bed during the night. To her surprise, Molly wasn't in her bed or on the floor sleeping. It was strange; Molly was never the first one out of bed.<p>

But Angela didn't think too much of it. It could have just been Molly waking up early to do something. What could she have needed to wake up early for? Angela had no clue, but she brushed it aside anyways.

Angela got dressed and went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. She poured herself a glass of water when she caught eye of a piece of notebook paper on the kitchen counter with her name written in huge, dark letters. Curious, she took it with her free hand and began to read as she sipped on her water.

Her brown eyes widened in shock. The glass in her hand slipped from her grip and crashed to the hardwood floor, breaking into pieces. She frantically read it again to make sure that she wasn't just losing her vision at an early age. _Molly…_

She suddenly began to search every room and closet of the farmhouse, hoping that this wasn't just a prank. When she found no sign of Molly, she darted out of the house, note in hand. She ran as fast as she could to the neighboring house on the farm and pounded on the front door.

"Kasey! Kasey, open the door. Please! It's an emergency!" she yelled.

It took a few moments until the door finally opened to show Kasey, who was still wearing his pajamas and bed-head. He scratched his head and groaned. "Geez, Ang. What is it?"

Angela merely shoved the note in his face. He blinked and cautiously took the piece of paper and read:

_Angela,_

_I'm really sorry about this, but I've decided to leave the island for a little while and tell Mom and Dad about your wedding in person instead of risking their invitation getting lost in the mail. I'll make sure Nana and Kevin know about the wedding too, so don't bother mailing their invitations. Just leave it to me! _

_I'm sorry for leaving out of nowhere without telling you or anyone else, but I knew that you guys would just tell me it's a bad idea. _

_Don't worry about me. I'll be fine! _

_I'll see you soon!_

_Love, Molly._

Kasey's clenched teeth began to show. He hastily grabbed the closest pair of shoes he could find. "Anissa, something's come up! I'll be right back!" he hollered before hurrying out of the house. He crumbled the note up in his hands and threw it to the ground to let off some steam. "That idiot! What the hell does she think she's doing?"

Angela didn't say anything. She just stared at the note on the ground. "This is my fault… She's doing this because of me…"

"Don't be an idiot like her!" Kasey snapped.

Angela's head bowed lower. She felt her eyes filling up with tears. "But she's all alone, and if she gets hurt…" Angela blinked, causing the ripe tears to crinkle down her cheeks.

Kasey flinched at the sight of her crying. _Maybe_ _I was too harsh… _He exhaled a deep breath in efforts of composing himself. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. You didn't deserve that," he muttered.

Angela sniffled and wiped her cheeks. "It's okay."

"But maybe she can still be on the island, you know?" he said. "She didn't give a time to when she was leaving the island, so maybe we can still catch her!"

Angela lifted her head up and nodded, a slight glimmer of hope appearing on her face. "Yeah, you're right."

"You go look around town. I'll go look in Flute Fields. Maybe I can get Chase to come look with us too. Be back here in one hour, okay?"

Angela watched Kasey head off to Flute Fields. In all honesty, Angela thought it was very unlikely for Molly to still be on the island anymore. But what else could she do? She couldn't just sit back and do nothing. What if her sister really was still on the island?

Angela bent down to grab the balled up note that Kasey threw down and started for Harmonica Town.

The first place she went to was Gill's house. She banged on the door until the jolly Mayor Hamilton opened it.

He gasped in awe with a glimmer in his eyes. "Angela! What a pleasant surprise!" he exclaimed, speaking at a hundred miles per hour. "It's not often I see you. I see your lovely sister, but never you! How's the wedding? Is everything going smoothly at the moment? We have so much to catch up on!"

"Nevermind that!" Angela cried, her eyes becoming moist again. She blinked hard to make it go away; she didn't want to cry in public. She knew she had to try stay calm.

The mayor, taken aback, stopped in his tracks, noting the severity in her voice. "Is something the matter, Angela?" he asked.

"Is Gill home? It's very important that I speak to him. It's an emergency!"

The mayor nodded and moved aside to let her inside. Gill then came into the room from his bedroom, not even noticing that Angela was in the room, as he was preoccupied with getting his tie on.

"Gill, have you seen Molly anywhere? We're trying to find her," Angela said, hearing her own worry in her words.

Gill must not have sensed the urgency of the situation, for he had yet to look at Angela in the face. He was still too concerned about his pesky blue tie. "What, like hide-and-seek? She isn't hiding here."

"This isn't a game!"

He quit messing with his tie. He looked up at her, concerned and wanting answers. Angela handed him the crumpled up note she had brought with her, rather than explaining herself. His blue eyes widened just as her eyes did when she first read the note.

Then, Gill snapped his attention back to Angela. "Did you check the docks yet?"

"No, I haven't checked anywhere else yet."

"Then, let's go!" He then, without thinking to wait for her, dashed past his father and out the front door.

Angela ran after him. She tried to catch up, but she had no idea that Gill could run so fast. Passed by villagers standing outside, whom stared at the two with concerned looks as they dashed past them.

Once he could see the docks from a distance, Gill stopped and bent over for a moment with his hands on his knees to pant and catch his breath. He glanced up to find the white ship still there. But he didn't find it. He straightened himself up and continued to look out at the docks.

Angela had then caught up with him and stopped right next to him to also catch her breath. "Goddess…you run fast…"

"It's not there," he muttered in response.

She looked at him. His eyebrows were digging deep and there was a pained, hurt expression on him. She looked out at the docks. No ship. No Molly. She felt a wave of disappointment hit her. "It's not there," she repeated.

"I could have stopped her…"

"How?" Angela asked incredulously.

"She had been talking about her parents lately. She was worried that they might not get their wedding invitation, so I made a comment about giving it to them herself. I didn't mean for her to take it seriously, but…"

"Gill, you couldn't possibly have been able to stop this."

"If I had just – "

"It's not your fault," Angela snapped. She felt her eyes become moist again, and she took a deep breath and blinked her eyes several times in hopes that the moist feeling would go away. She couldn't stand hearing him take the blame for all of this. She felt guilt well up inside her empty stomach as she heard him regret things that couldn't have been helped. _If it's anyone's fault, it's mine._

Gill had taken a long look at Angela. He could see that this situation was hurting her inside. He remained quiet for a moment as he thought to himself about Molly, their parents, the mainland. He didn't like the idea of her seeing her parents. What if they hurt her after she was starting to get over their abandonment? Gill found himself with his fists clenched, his knuckles turning white.

Angela could see the hard face he had on now. "Gill?" she said in a careful voice.

He didn't say anything, as he was still preoccupied with his own thoughts, but when Angela called his name again, he finally looked at her. He waited for her to say something but when she didn't, he sighed roughly. "As soon as Pascal comes back, I'm going after her."

* * *

><p>The stars in the sky were finally coming out after a long day of sitting on a ship. Molly carried her bag off the vessel and thanked Pascal for the ride.<p>

"Whenever you decide to come back, call me up at that there shop," Pascal said, pointing his pipe at a small bait shop with green walls and a giant fish-shaped sign that read _Coney's Worms._ "Just tell 'em you need a boat from me to get you."

Molly walked into the town called Ruben Port with her bag, remembering when she and Angela had to pass through here to get to Castanet. She recognized the small shops and seafood restaurants. She wrinkled her nose and laughed quietly to herself. _This place still smells like dead fish._

She still remembered her way to the bus station, so she decided to stop at a shop that was still open and buy a few snacks for the hour-long bus ride she was anticipating. She paid for a couple bags of chips and a bottle of soda she had never heard of before and left the shop. She stuffed the chips in her bag and opened her drink and chugged half of it down. It tasted different from other sodas she had tried before, more sweet. She liked it and started to read the label wrapped around the bottle. _I should get Gill to try some of this. _She frowned, remembering where she was. _I hope they're not too mad at me…_

She chugged the last of the soda, threw away the empty bottle, and started walking for the bus station only a few blocks away.

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><p><strong>**I swear, writing this chapter reminds me of Molly in one of my other stories. :p<br>**

**I haven't been on in a few months, so when I got back on there where a butt load of updates they made! :o  
>One of them is your story can have a cover? (That's actually pretty cool :p) Well, I'm not really sure what I should make the cover for this story (same with all my other stories). I honestly don't care about leaving the covers to my stories as the rainbow-smiley profile pic I have (that at least let's you know right away that it's one of my stories! :D), but I'd at least like to consider changing it just because...well, because I can.<br>So, if anybody wants, they can send me whatever ideas for covers you want to me - links or just suggestions of what it should look like that doesn't have to do with me drawing it. I can't draw a good picture to save my life. xD **

**Again, sorry for the long absence. I hope it didn't make you totally forget about me.  
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**See ya at the next chapter! :) **  
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